Agatha Christie and Literature Quiz

Answer: Parker Pyne Investigates

'Gates of Damascus' is a poem by James Elroy Flecker that contains the lines "Four great gates has the city of Damascus... Postern of Fate, the Desert Gate, Disaster's Cavern, Fort of Fear...". The novel 'Postern of Fate' features Tommy and Tuppence and was the last book written by Christie. The same poem is featured in another of Christie's stories, 'The Gate of Baghdad', which is a part of the short story collection 'Parker Pyne Investigates'. The story features Parker Pyne who is on a visit to Damascus and Baghdad.

Answer: Julius Caesar

William's Shakespeare play 'Julius Caesar' contains a speech by Brutus in Act IV. Following is one of the line in the speech: "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune". The title of Agatha Christie's novel 'Taken at the Flood' is inspired from these lines. The novel is also known as 'There is a Tide'.
The title also refers to a character in the novel who makes use of an opportunity to strike gold.

Answer: Murder in Mesopotamia

'Murder in Mesopotamia' is a Christie novel that features a character called Coleman. The character is described as follows - "He had a round pink face, and really, in all my life, I have never seen any one who seemed so exactly like a young man out of one of Mr. P.G. Wodehouse's books." Incidentally the novel 'Halloween Party' was dedicated by Christie to Wodehouse. P. G. Wodehouse in turn referred to Agatha Christie's novels and characters in many of his novels, in a humorous way.

Answer: The Lady of Shalott

'The Lady of Shalott' is a poem by Lord Alfred Tennyson. The poem contains a stanza with the lines "Out flew the web and floated wide; The mirror crack'd from side to side; 'The curse is come upon me,' cried the Lady of Shalott." The title of the Miss Marple novel 'The Mirror Crack'd' is based on this poem. The novel is also known as 'The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side'.

Answer: Auguste Dupin

'Partners in Crime' is a short story collection featuring the detective husband and wife Tommy and Tuppence. In this book, the two take over a detective agency and decide to play the roles of famous fictional detectives. The short story 'The Man in the Mist' features Tommy wearing a clerical dress 'in the Father Brown touch'.

In the story 'The Case of the Missing Lady', Tommy compares the case to the Sherlock Holmes story 'The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax'. The last story 'The Man who was No.16' features Tommy play-acting Hercule Poirot.

However, Edgar Allen Poe's Dupin is not featured in 'Partners in Crime'.

Answer: Revelation

The title of the novel 'The Pale Horse' is based on a verse from the book 'Revelation'. The verse quoted in the book is 'And I looked and behold a pale horse; and his name that sat on him was Death" (from Chapter Six Verse Eight). In the novel 'The Pale Horse' is the name of an inn, that has a plaque with the above inscription on it.

Answer: False

'By the Pricking of my Thumbs' is a mystery featuring Tommy and Tuppence. The title of the novel is inspired by lines from William Shakespeare's play 'Macbeth'. In Act 4, Scene 1 of the play, a witch quotes the lines, "By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes".

Answer: Omar Khayyam

Omar Khayyam's 'Rubaiyat' features a verse, which when translated to English reads "The Moving Finger writes; and having writ, moves on: nor all thy piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel a line, nor all thy tears wash out a word out of it." The title of the novel 'The Moving Finger', which features Miss Marple is inspired from this poem.

The novel is also known as 'The Poison Pen' and its main plot revolves around a writer of scurrilous letters.

Answer: Twelfth Night

'Twelfth Night' by William Shakespeare features a song in Act II Scene IV, the first sentence of which reads, "Come away, come away, death, and in sad cypress let me be laid." 'The Sad Cypress' is a Hercule Poirot novel which has its title inspired from these lines.

Answer: William Blake

'Auguries of Innocence' is a poem by William Blake. One of the lines of the poem is "Every night and every morn some to misery are born. Every morn and every night some are born to sweet delight, some are born to sweet delight, some are born to endless night." The title of the novel 'Endless Night' is based on this poem.